Tax havens or tax hells? A discussion of the historical roots and present consequences of tax havens

Ana Margarida Raposo, Technical University of Lisbon, School of Social and Political Sciences, Lisbon, PortugalPaulo Reis Mourão, Department of Economics, Economics & Management School, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

AbstractTax havens are not recent phenomena. However, in contrast to historical precedents, tax havens in the age of mobile capital allow for non-consensual transfers and are not profitable for every citizen. We discuss the four main groups of tax havens (former Western possessions, sovereign nations, countries controlled by cartels, and emerging economies). This article also synthesizes the history of tax havens and describes their current heterogeneity, discussing the main methods available to regulate tax haven flows. Some of the most efficient methods involve unilateral measures (such as the Fiscal Transparency of Outland Societies) but also encompass multilateral measures (such as Tax Harmonization and the Request for Information).